Katy's Dumpling House [Hand-pulled Noodles]

Need I say more?

Flip

Katy's Dumpling House
665 N. Cass Ave.
Westmont, IL 60559
630-323-9393

Hours: 11am – 9pm
Closed Wednesdays
Cash only

Flip wrote:Need I say more?

Flip

Flip,

Yes, actually you do.

Though Katy's is an excellent nomination. In fact, I had lunch there today, a really terrific lunch.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Flip wrote:Need I say more?

Flip

Flip,

Yes, actually you do.

Though Katy's is an excellent nomination. In fact, I had lunch there today, a really terrific lunch.

Enjoy,
Gary

Well, if I must...

Katy's has to be one of my favorite lunch spots. Although I don't visit nearly often enough. I could go on forever about Katy's I'll be brief and mention a few items. First the hand pulled noodles. It doesn't matter if you order them in the beef noodle soup, cold sczechuan style, or in a dan dan broth. Their chewy texture compliments any preparation. Additionally, there are a number of items in the refrigerator at the counter such as, roasted pork loin, and smoked chicken are fabulous. I'm also a fan of the dumpling selection.

Ambience wise, Katy's leaves a lot to be desired unless you are a fan of a small storefront with limited seating where the aromas permeate your clothing, which of course are all big pluses in my book.

So without further delay I would like to announce my nomination of Katy's dumpling house for this years GNR awards.

Flip

(Gary, is that good enough?)

By an amazing coincidence I ate there too, for the first time, today. It was terrific, and it's located in what has to be one of the two or three best strip malls in the area for ethnic food, with two Indian restaurants, one Chinese, one Thai, a Chinese market, and an Indian market. Oh, and a hot dog place, too. (We'll ignore the Pizza Hut.)

Anyway, yeah, a perfect example of the kind of place that LTHForum exists to bring to wider attention, and a most deserving GNR.

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Supposedly (per Google translator that is consistanly wrong) thats "seconded" in Chinese.

-ramon

Ha! I was strong and successfully resisted the temptation to go to Katy's today. I was on Midwest Road but turned around and went to an appointment instead.


So it's the first time I've been able to go to Lombard and NOT go in, gimme a break!

Heartily seconded, thirded or whatever we are up to now.

Octarine wrote:Ha! I was strong and successfully resisted the temptation to go to Katy's today. I was on Midwest Road but turned around and went to an appointment instead.


So it's the first time I've been able to go to Lombard and NOT go in, gimme a break!

Heartily seconded, thirded or whatever we are up to now.

I so deeply wanted to go to Katy's for lunch today myself. However, with the gas prices these days I'm carpooling to work, and it wasn't my day to drive. My craving will have to wait.

Flip

Intgerestingly enough, I was there for lunch today, too. Along with the dishes already mentioned, I'll also add a couple of my favorites, namely the pot stickers (which I prefer over the steamed dumplings...but not by much) and the stir fried noodles with chiles. Now that's good eats! I'd love to see Katy's get a GNR and I want to be there when the award gets presented and someone has to try to explain to Mr. Red Shirt exactly what the award means.

SteveZ wrote:I'd love to see Katy's get a GNR and I want to be there when the award gets presented and someone has to try to explain to Mr. Red Shirt exactly what the award means.

I nominate CrazyC to do the explanation. She knows Mr. Red Shirt from a prior work place.

Regards,

Here's a few more photos to whet the appetite:

Excellent, excellent, excellent. I went to Katy's a couple of years ago at the suggestion of some kind poster, and ordered wrong. Steamed dumplings were okay. House special wonton soup was watery and not too interesting that day. So I went back to my standby and marked it off my list.

How wrong I was! Thanks to all for showing me the error of my ways. It is wonderful to have a local source for really good Szechwan cold noodles, among other things.

Great nomination, Flip.

Sorry to join the party late. I've been on the road lately and just remembered to look and see if Katy's was nominated. Long overdue, if I can say so myself.

(And, Mike, I've been saying that strip mall is in the running with Kedzie/Lawrence and several places in LA for best strip mall in America. Maybe that can be an award.)

Now, please, will somebody go to Chinese Kitchen, also in Westmont, also on Cass (further south, around 63rd)? No, not as unique as Katy's, but very, very good Cantonese food.

And while we are on the topic of nearby, Chinese, and good, let's not forget LSC, now moved west on Ogden to Downers Grove, which is Americanized by addition - they have adopted the specials from the old, Americanized and supremely mediocre predecessor on their location, Lo Gardens, but also included all the LSC specialties from Chinatown. Quite tasty.

But Katy's, hmmmm.

Hmm...I guess I have to be the odd (wo)man out here.

When my mom and her friend were in town back in April, we trekked all the way out to Katy's Dumplings (a good hour out of our way) after all the stellar reviews I read here. I really, really wanted to love this place, but I think we all came away a little disappointed.

I did really like the stir fried noodles w/ shrimp, but thought the potstickers were not the best I've had. The filling wasn't nearly as flavorful as the ones I make at home for Chinese New Years (and I wouldn't even call myself the greatest of dumpling makers).

The beef noodle soup was, for me, the greatest disappointment. This has been one of my favorite dishes ever since I was little, and I've sadly had to reconcile with the fact that it's a rare thing to find a well-made beef noodle soup. Most places just do not make very flavorful broths. The best I've had is from a family friend's Chinese restaurant where my mom works part time in, of all places, Richmond, VA.

We also ordered a few of their cold dishes. My mom and her friend thought one of them was done pretty well, although I'm sorry to say that I can't remember which one it was. They both thought everything was way too salty. Indeed, it was lucky that we had some bottled water in the car since the restaurant only had tea to give us (which was kind of weird).

If I happened to be in the neighborhood, I might go back for the shrimp noodles, but otherwise I just wasn't as impressed as many others who've raved about this place. In fact, I was a little embarrassed afterwards that we'd gone that out of our way to eat there, but I guess at least it was worth finding out for ourselves what the food is like. Just wish we could've liked it better.

Janet, I feel badly that you dragged your family out to a stripmall on Ogden and had a less-than-stellar experience. I have to admit that I only go to Katy's when I'm out to see the in-laws, which is pretty often. I do hope that you worked in another stop, such as the massive DiHo market, Westbrook Market or maybe even one of the other Chinese places that are all right there (if you were still hungry).

The moniker Katy's Dumpling House is possibly a little misleading. Should be Katy's noodle house. For me, it really always has been about the noodles. I have found only the somewhat more rustic hand-made noodles at Mandarin Kitchen to be anywhere in the same neighborhood.

It seems to me that this is a rare and wonderful thing for most fans of Chinese food, but possibly no big deal for someone who grew up at the apron strings of Chinese parents/grandparents. Heck, I've eaten at a bunch of Time-Out type noodle places in NY, and Toronto, for example, and have not seen hand pulled noodles.

Is it fairly common to make hand-pulled noodles at home? And the place in Richmond, you should post on. I've been there a handfull of times over the past few years, and wished I knew of someplace to eat. Handmade noodles? (You can see where my mind is.) Thanks in advance.

Hi Jeff,

Well, like I said, at least I know for myself now what the food is like. All those pictures were very enticing! Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to check out any of the other places around there as we had to head back to downtown.

I'm also quite a fiend for handmade noodles, and I liked that aspect of Katy's. It's hard to find that here in Chicago. My family doesn't really ever make noodles by hand at home. Sometimes I'll buy the "handmade" thicker noodles (I think they're labeled "Shanghai") at the grocery store.

My aunt has a hole-in-the-wall restaurant outside of Dallas, Lee's Catfish (http://dallas.citysearch.com/profile/9544895), where they do make noodles by hand as well as various buns and dumplings. If you're ever in that area, I highly encourage you to visit.

The restaurant in Richmond is called China Star, located in the West End (3423 Cox Rd.). I don't think they use handmade noodles in their beef noodle soup. But speaking for myself, I'd much prefer a good broth to handmade noodles when I get beef noodle soup (though handmade noodles would make it that much better) b/c a bland broth and really ruin the experience. China Star also adds cilantro and pickled (Chinese) relish to their soup, which I like.

They also have good Boiled Beef and are famous for this one bean curd dish that all the Chinese customers always order. My mom usually does the ordering so unfortunately I don't know most of the dish names. She told me to let you know that you can call her next time you're in town and she can help you out when/if you go there.

Hey, thanks. The Dallas reco is a real bonus, as I find myself there wondering where the food is quite often.

Finally, I can't help but wonder if you didn't get a really bad batch of beef noodle soup at Katy's. My experience there is with a very dark, oily, pungent broth garnished with pickled vegetables and cilantro, as you say.

Is it possible Mr. Red Shirt was giving you and the family some sort of a hard time? The multiple reports of blandness from several sources have me puzzled.

Wow, small world; I grew up in a suburb by Dallas (when it was just grass and cows - you wouldn't recognize Plano these days), and Lee's Catfish was one of the few Chinese restaurants that first existed in the "metroplex" - the other was No 1 Barbecue. Strangely enough, I don't remember ever dining at Lee's, although we passed by it often enough doing our grocery shopping at the few Chinese markets at that time.

Let me move this thread to the top and state the obvious - Katy's is great and if any place is a slam dunk renewal, this is it.

It continues to draw my city LTH-friends out here for lunches, to my double delight. Oh, and the food is pretty good if we resist the temptation of the expanded menu.

On the other hand, Mr. Red Shirt and his team have not let success change them a bit.

dicksond wrote:On the other hand, Mr. Red Shirt and his team have not let success change them a bit.

Nor have they displayed their GNR Certificate, much to the chagrin of GWiv and others. Maybe getting the renewal certificate will cause them to change their policy. Just to be clear, Me Love Katy's!!

stevez wrote:Me Love Katy's!!

I couldn't have said it better myself

Last week, I drove 60 miles (round-trip) through a snowstorm to have lunch at Katy's. There are very few places for which I would do that.

=R=

Katy's is very good, and I have eaten lunch here about 10 times this last year. A very worthy GNR winner.

Luckily mon-fri I work about 10 mins away from Katy's, but I have been known to drive the 140 miles round trip to katy's from my home out in Lasalle County for a weekend lunch fix.

Slam dunk. Home run. Wicket googily. Tui shou.

In addition to the exceptional noodles and dumplings, many of us discovered the world's finest pickle there this year and further explored the 'cold case' offerings. A Sunday trip to Katy's can outfit you for the first three days of the week for more flavor per dollar than anyplace else in the 'burbs.

On my one trip, I was very impressed. Just wish they'd allow BYOB. Definite GNR renewal.

A good indicator of a GNT, being an LTH GNR...running into LTH'rs there. On my last visit, we ran into Saint Pizza and JimtheBeerGuy with their brood.

I think we all enjoyed some hot delicious noodles and totally addictive pickles on a snowy day.

nr706 wrote:On my one trip, I was very impressed. Just wish they'd allow BYOB. Definite GNR renewal.

I am sure that they would love to allow BTOB, but the village of Westmont is notoriously finicky with their liquor laws.

Flip

I heartily endorse this nomination. I've driven from Northfield to Westmont for a bowl of their noodles more than once.

Whenever we are driving west of the city, we are looking for ways to squeeze a visit to Katy's into the trip. The noodles are absolutely worth the trip. Renew!

I guess I am spoiled I only work a few miles from here, but rarely go when I have the chance. with that said, I have enjoyed my visits alot.

Renew. Renew. Renew. When I have work in the western burbs, I try to schedule the meetings toward the end of the day so I can bring the noodles home. If I stop midday and tell the wife I ate there without her, I am sleeping on the couch.

This is the kind of place that I praise LTH for helping me find. How long would I need to hunt to come across handmade chinese noodles done this well?